Reading the signs, finding her audience
Kelley Armstrong’s new series centres on a spooky small town
Omens Kelley Armstrong Random House Canada, 486 pages.
Check the portents. Read the signs. Since Macbeth’s witches, they signal a dark turn in one’s fate.
And they are the perfect device for a writer hip deep in what is called “Dark Fiction.” And that’s Kelley Armstrong.
The London, Ont. writer of the Otherworld books that feature werewolves and vampires, witches and warlocks, demons and dreamers has a new adult fiction series centred on a spooky town in Illinois called Cainsville and a young woman named Olivia Taylor Jones on the run from her past. Olivia, it tuns out, is the daughter of husband-and-wife serial killers.
She was taken from her parents when they were caught and adopted by a wealthy family.
Her real identity is outed and she tries to hide from the glare of publicity. All the while, the signs, portents and some sinister people are sending her to Cainsville where the plot really thickens.
The first book in the series, which will eventually be five or six books long, hits on store shelves on Aug. 20. Armstrong herself will be in Ottawa on Aug. 22. She will speak, take some questions and sign some books. If you are interested, get there early, as her events can really fill up.
Armstrong says she never gets tired of signing her books. She carries a Sharpie and she is always ready to use it.
She recently responded to a number of questions in a telephone interview. Here are her answers.
Tell me about the new series.
It’s kind of a sidestep for me. It does have some mild supernatural elements, more like omens and Celtic folklore rather than werewolves, demons and so on. I also have a straight-up mystery trilogy out there, the Nadia Stafford books, so if you were going to go midway between those and my Otherworld series, that’s Cainsville.
I do both young adult and adult writing, but if you were to ask what do I consider myself to be, it’s an adult writer. I started there and that’s the one genre I couldn’t imagine leaving. I love YA, I love the teen audience, they are fantastic; and my YA books outsell my adult books but I am an adult writer.
Why werewolves?
I’ve been really lucky that I’ve gotten into genres that have become really super popular.
When I was writing a series on werewolves, everybody said, ‘You’re never going to sell that. Who reads books on werewolves?’ But it sold. That series struggled at first, but then other authors were writing similar books and that sort of swept that up.
When I was writing my YA fiction, it was because my daughter was hitting her teen years and wanting to read my adult books and I was saying, “Dear God, no.” So I wrote from the same world for the teen audience and the first book there came out just as the Twilight series had ended. It was perfect timing to tap into this massive audience. They were looking and I lucked in. But, if it’s not what you really want to write, it won’t work.
What’s the genesis of Cainsville?
I wanted to do a reverse Cinderella story; instead of going from rags to riches, she goes the opposite way but finds out that that life suits her better. I also love thrillers and I love serial killer books. I’d also had the idea for a while of someone who’s the child of a serial killer and discovers that fact in adulthood. How would that affect her sense of self, how she viewed her self and her actions? You put those two together and you ask, “Does this person lose everything because they are the child of serial killers?” The third element: I grew up on Stephen King and the small town with a secret story. It’s been done many times, but I always wanted to do that.
Cainsville, my so-called small town, is not some horrible small town where they do annual sacrifices. Instead it’s this weird place with this fantastical element. There is a dark overpinning, but you’re not going to be stuck there and chased by serial killers.
What about writing scary books?
I often joke that the people who write Dark Fiction are some of the most grounded people I know. The fascination with that is completely within the imagination.
Where does your passion come from?
I grew up loving to read anything that was dark, or folklore or mythology. I thrived on that. I don’t know why. I was telling stories before I could write. I was reading young. I was the oldest kid and my parents really wanted to get me reading. I was very quickly saying, “That was a great story, but wouldn’t it better if it was told this way?”
My parents were very encouraging and were getting me to write.
I still didn’t say, though, “When I grow up, I’m going to be a writer.” In my family nobody has a career in the arts. It’s a hobby, which is a good way of looking at it.
It’s a great and wonderful hobby, but you need to make a living doing an actual job, which I totally agree with because it is not easy. You can’t just grow up and become a writer.
So I got my nine-to-five job. I was a computer programmer and meanwhile I continued writing, writing, writing until I got something published.
What happened there?
I sold Bitten (the first Otherworld book) in 1999 and it came out in 2001. That was my first published book. It was also the fourth complete book that I had written.
Few people publish their first novel. There are no shortcuts. It’s read, read, read and write as much as you can. It doesn’t matter how many books I have out there, I’m always hoping that my craft is still improving.
What messages are you communicating in your books?
In fantasy, we are taking a reallife issue and blowing it up and making it more entertaining. Instead of just talking about people, we are talking about werewolves and witches. It is a way to talk about ethics, about racism, about identity search.
What about the impact of Dark Fiction on young people?
I find that when Dark Fiction for YA readers is discussed, the big issue is not vampires, but there is a concern when you are writing about cutting (self-mutilation) or about eating disorders. There have been complaints that those subjects should not appear in YA fiction. But YA authors would say that it’s part of teen lives. It’s that fear that if you talk about cutting in a YA book, that somehow it’s going to make kids say, “Oh, I’ve never thought of that. Let me try that.”
I have a daughter at the University of Toronto and boys who are 12 and 13. They are why I write middle-grade books, which are for nine- to 12-year-olds.
Having kids that age helps. I read the books and I know I can make characters that reach that age group. You have to know what you are doing. You have to know the audience you are writing for.
Do your sons read your books?
They certainly read my books and give me feedback. Of course, I read their schoolwork and I critique it, so it’s fun to do it back to mom.
I hear there is a TV series underway.
My book Bitten is being turned into a TV series that will be on Space. They already finished filming and it will start in January. They have done 13 episodes.
Did you get involved?
No, I stayed away. It’s not my thing. I know enough about screenwriting to know it’s best left in the hands of the production company.
How far afield have your books gone?
I have a Canadian, an American and a U.K. publisher and I have done book tours in the U.K. and in Australia.
I’ve had letters from Bulgaria, Romania and Poland. It’s funny. I was speaking to a horror writer last year and he asked, “Are you popular in Poland?” He said he was there on tour and he was asked a bunch of times, “Do you know Kelley Armstrong?” Apparently I sell well in Poland.
I haven’t toured in Canada for years. This is my first in a few years.